Investigators say they found 337 marijuana plants in Sacramento Co. on Monday

When a team of state investigators busted a marijuana growing operation near the community of Wilton on Monday, it marked at least the third time in one month that they have broken up a grow in Sacramento County.

Monday's bust happened on La Clair Road in an agricultural area of southern Sacramento County. A spokeswoman for the California Department of Justice said the grow is one example of many that point to a new pattern among marijuana growers: moving away from remote, forested areas of the foothills and onto agricultural land.

The department's spokeswoman, Michelle Gregory, said some growers are assuming that they won't be caught on rented farmland or in a backyard because of the challenges law enforcement officers sometimes have in getting warrants to search private property. Perhaps more common, she said, is the idea among growers that in a backyard, they can more easily try to claim that they were growing the marijuana legally for medicinal purposes.

"They probably figure that if they put it in a backyard, then law enforcement wouldn’t think twice about it or think that it’s smaller and not tied to a bigger grow," Gregory said. "But we do our investigations, find out otherwise and go in and take them."

However, at Monday's bust, agents said they found 337 plants and roughly 250 pounds of processed marijuana for sale. Agents said they also found a loaded rifle.

The plants were burned on site, said Roy Giorgi, who is a member of the department's Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team.

Authorities said the site was a rental property. By late Monday afternoon, investigators were still trying to find out if the property owner knew of the grow. The property is surrounded by a 6-foot fence.